Change of Fate
by O for Ode
Summary: Lavi just wanted to be normal. Just another person who could be have friends, love someone and not witness death at every turn. But no, he was a Bookman. And Bookmen were only there to record, not to make friends. But what if he made a pact with an Akuma who claims to know how to help him?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello! This is my first story on FF and i hope you guys enjoy it :) this is based on Lavi and his feelings of duty vs freedom or whatever you guys call it. Hope you give me some feedback on the story and on how to improve! i don't have much experience writing so hopefully this is fine. The story deviates from the original D Gray Man story so hopefully it's not too bad.**

* * *

"Lavi! We're going to the bookstore and then to the cafe for lunch. Do you want to come?" Allen asked, grinning at his friend.

He was holding an armful of books destined for the library. Bookman was in front of him carrying a similar stack. They were going to write a record of the latest Akuma attack in England when Allen had interrupted. Bookman looked back at Lavi and scowled. Clearly, the words _don't get too attached _was directed at him.

Lavi swallowed. "Sorry beansprout, looks like I got work to do." He apologised.

Allen looked at Bookman. "Surely just one afternoon is fine? You can just record it another day, can't you?"

Lavi could feel his elder's gaze on him, pressuring him to say no. "Sorry beansprout. Work's important."

When he left Allen and walked back to Bookman, the old man was staring at him. He nodded grimly and congratulated him on leaving.

"It's your duty. Don't get too attached, Lavi. We're just here to record history not to make friends," Bookman warned.

"I know." Lavi replied.

He spent the rest of the afternoon looking through the death counts and names of those who died. Lavi recognised a few names - there was the guy who lived in the room next to his. He was a nice kid of about 12. Lavi felt sickened that such a young kid had to die. He wondered if the kid even knew what he was dying for. Or if he even believed in the Order.

"Two on the west front against eight Level 2 Akuma," Bookman dictated.

Lavi dutifully recorded that, his jaw clenched.

"Four on the east front against one Level 1 Akuma," Bookman read.

"Do you think it was a glitch in the communications?" Lavi asked.

He found it strange that four Exorcists were posted to an area with only one Akuma. A level 1 too. Only two Exorcists against eight Level twos was a definite lost battle.

"Possibly. You never know with these old golems. I keep telling Komui to replace them but he never gets round to it. Says he's got a lot of work to do." Bookman grumbled.

"What if it was a set up by the Akuma? The old golems can't be trusted and maybe they couldn't get back to the Order in time." Lavi argued.

"Possibly. Write it down under the possible results of death," Bookman instructed.

Lavi did, writing it very neatly in black ink.

"We could have stopped it, Jiji," Lavi interrupted the silence.

Bookman carried on working. "No one can stop the course of history."

"If we went to help-" Lavi argued, raising his voice.

"We're bookmen. We don't help. We record." Bookman interrupted.

"We're _exorcists_. Look at the uniform you wear, Jiji. Tell me what it is!" He gestured at Bookman's uniform.

"It's so we can get closer to the events." The old man replied. "I'm telling you now, Lavi. There's no good in believing you're an Exorcist. You're not. We're not. We're bookmen and we don't need to do anything else other than to record history."

"Jiji-"

"You're getting too attached to them. I'm telling you now, it's for your best that you leave them." Bookman meant his friends.

"They're my friends," Lavi argued.

"There's nothing wrong with being friends. I just want you to know that if anything happens to them, I want you to stay in character as a bookman. I didn't take you up as an apprentice for nothing. Remember that. I saved you. You wouldn't be alive right now if it wasn't for me." Bookman warned.

Lavi gritted his teeth. "Yes, Jiji."

* * *

Lavi passed by the Science Department the next morning. Lenalee was inside carrying a tray of coffee for the scientists. She noticed him before he could pass by quietly.

"Lavi! Good morning!" Lenalee greeted, smiling.

"Mornin'," he smiled back.

She put down the tray of coffee and excused herself from her brother. Of course, Komui didn't want her to leave but was too tired to move. Lavi heard that the Science Department had spent three nights building a new software for the golems after his report. Deciding that casualties caused by golems malfunctioning wasn't a good enough cause for death, Komui knew he had to design a new one. Lavi almost believed Komui hated the Order's cause.

"Do you want to come to my room? I've got something to give you." Lenalee said excitedly when she arrived at the front door.

Lavi smirked. "I've been waiting for this invite for so long, Lenalee. How kind-"

"You better not be having any ideas, Lavi! I've built Komurin 4 already!" Komui threatened._  
_

Lavi smiled. "It was Lenalee's idea!"

"I didn't mean it like that!" She punched his shoulder lightly. "I got something for you yesterday when we went to the bookstore. Allen said you had work to do and couldn't come with us."

He smiled. It was times like this that he realised that he actually meant something to his friends. They meant something to him too, enough that Lavi was sure he would lose control if anything happened to them. Bookman was right - he shouldn't form relationships with anyone. This was getting disastrous.

"How was your work?" She asked as they walked down the grey corridors.

It was snowing outside and the building was cold. Lavi had always liked winter more than any other season - something about being bundled up by the fire appealed to him. No doubt they would be asking him to go out and play in the snow with them. He remembered last year's snow fight and how he had teamed up with Lenalee and won against Kanda and Allen. The look on Kanda's face was priceless.

"It's finished. Bookman and I stayed up past midnight to do it." Lavi replied.

They walked into the elevator. There were two other Exorcists in there and they moved to make way for Lenalee and Lavi. The female greeted Lenalee and they chatted about the mission that Lenalee had returned from just three days ago. She left the floor before theirs and Lavi gave her a slight smile when she glanced at him.

"Hope you aren't too tired, Lavi. I can make you some tea if you want - Komui got some from an Exorcist who went on a mission to China. He says it's good for fatigue," Lenalee suggested.

They got out of the lift and walked down the dreary corridor towards her room.

"Nah," Lavi smiled. "I'll live. Jiji's always asking me to stay up late anyway. It's common occurrence."

It was a strange feeling always when his friends did something nice for him. He always found it hard to remain impassive towards them when they did.

When they reached her room, she unlocked it. The room smelt like her - sweet, flowery and summery. It was neat and decorated with the same furniture as any other rooms in the Order - a bed, a desk and chair, a wardrobe, a bookshelf, a small dresser and a rug. She went to the bag lying on top of desk and retrieved something.

"Here," she said as she presented something to him. "I got this for you yesterday."

It was a book. A fables novel. He stared at the shorter female, shocked. When they were younger and had spent countless days in the medical wards, Lavi's insomnia had gotten worse. Lenalee didn't know this, but it was because of the recent event he had to record - one of the worst Akuma attack in history. They attacked a small village and left no one alive. Lavi found he couldn't close his eyes without remembering the sight of the village and the blood splattered everywhere.

One night while they were listening to other Exorcists snore, Lenalee had taken out a similar book to the one she was holding now. Opening it to a random page, she had quietly read it to him. She strained her eyes against the soft glow of the candlelight and Lavi watched the flickering on her face. She looked like an angel. Her voice was soothing and something sparked in him then. He wasn't sure what it was but he knew it was bad news.

"A collection of fables," Lavi muttered.

She handed it to him.

"Do you remember that night?" Lenalee asked.

He knew she was referring to the night she read to him, but he didn't want to acknowledge that memory more than he should. Winking at her, he tried to hide his feelings.

"Oh I remember _that night _all right," he teased in a low voice.

Lenalee blushed and punched his arm again. "Lavi, stop it."

He chuckled. "Thanks for the gift," he shook the book.

She smiled back at him. "We're friends. Don't mention it."

* * *

He woke up with a jolt that night, sweating heavily. Glancing around his room, he found that it was still dark. Of course it was. It was always dark when he had _that_ dream. With his knees pulled up to his chest, he wrapped his arms around them. The night was still young and he never felt more alone.

When he couldn't get to sleep right away, he decided to take a walk around the Order to clear his head. The memories were still fresh in his head - the screaming, the blood, the corpses. He shook his head in a desperate attempt to clear it. Of course it didn't work.

"Lavi!" Someone called from behind.

He turned around to find Allen running up to him. Lavi dutifully stopped. He couldn't help but feel that surge of relief when he realised his friend was well and alive.

"Good evening. What are you doing up?" Allen greeted when he got to Lavi.

"Couldn't sleep," Lavi lied. "You?"

"I was roped into helping Komui," Allen made a face.

Lavi chuckled. "That's a night gone for you then, beansprout."

"It's _Allen_."

"Ah never change, beansprout." He patted Allen on his back.

In the end, Lavi decided to follow Allen back down to the Science Department. There, they were more than happy to find another victim for their experiments. Apparently they were still trying to create a better golem and needed someone to test out some prototypes. Lavi and Allen seemed ideal since they were Exorcists.

"You just have to stand there, Lavi," Komui said, pointing to the red cross on the floor.

Allen was standing on the opposite end of the hall on an identical red cross. Reever handed Lavi a helmet, saying it was necessary if he wanted to keep his head on his neck by the end of this experiment. Both Allen and Lavi had a golem flying in front of them, and when Johnny gave the signal, Allen had to say something and Lavi would try and say what he heard.

By the third try, Lavi still couldn't hear anything more than static. A string of curses and wails erupted from Komui as the Science Department attempted to calm him down.

"There's always a next time, Komui," Lavi heard Allen say to the sobbing man.

Komui just shook his head. "It's one time! One time! If this fails then I don't know what to do!" He wailed.

"There's always a second chance!" Allen remained positive as the rest of the group agreed with Allen.

"We'll just keep trying, Komui," Reever tried to reassure. "There's always a next time! We'll keep trying until we succeed!"

"Yeah!" Johnny chimed in. "We're the Science Department and we never give up!"

The group cheered and chanted until Komui finally wiped the snot away and smiled. He got up and with a maniacal grin, set about planning for the sixth prototype of golems.

Lavi admired them. The sense of community was never stronger than in the Science Department, he felt. He had never felt more out of place.

* * *

He walked through the forest, hearing the crunching of the leaves beneath his boots. Straining his ears, he tried to make out any sounds of the Akuma he was chasing. His chest hurt from all the punches the Akuma had given him. It didn't help his breathing at all, and he tried his best to stay quiet.

A dark shadow passed by in front of him. There! Lavi hastened his steps and tried to catch the Akuma. It had led him to an open space where there was really nowhere to hide. The Akuma was there, lurking about in the shadows, obviously oblivious to Lavi's presence. It had a long, grey snake-like body and matching head. The only difference between it and a snake was that it had arms - long ones that could extend immeasurably and were fitted with claws. Muttering softly, he reached into the holster where he kept his hammer and activated it.

"_Hi ban!_" He shouted, alerting the Akuma. A red seal erupted from beneath the Akuma when he brought the hammer down onto it, the character for FIRE burnt into the earth.

The Akuma screeched, begging for the fire to stop. Its silver scales were catching on fire and some were falling off its body. Lavi's fire snake just continued burning, tuning out the Akuma's pleas. It wasn't like he particularly enjoyed killing Akuma - he felt it was his duty to do so. It did give him some sort of release of tension though, a way of venting out when he was feeling stressed. Still, watching Akuma suffer wasn't something anyone liked to do.

"Stop! Stop!" The Akuma screeched, its skin beginning to tear and crack.

Lavi sighed and glanced around the forest, taking in any details that he had to record later. 3 Exorcists (including himself) against 2 Level 2 Akuma - _won_. 2 Exorcists severely wounded; 1 wounded; 2 Akuma dead. He was about to walk off when the Akuma screeched something that wasn't a plea for help. Well, he supposed it was, but it was different to the other please of help that he had heard.

"Stop it and I'll help you!" It pleaded.

Lavi stopped in his tracks. What could it possibly know? He increased the flames slightly but took care not to let it die. Knowing that this was possibly the stupidest mistake he had done, he wondered why he was even listening to it. The Akuma seemed to notice the Exorcist had stopped.

"I'll help you! I know what you want! I'll help you get it! Just stop, stop stop the burning!" It shouted.

"What do you know? You're just an Akuma." Lavi hissed, his back still facing the Akuma.

"I know your feelings! I know you're a Bookman!"

"What's it to you?"

"Bookmen can't have friends. Technically, they can't form relationships that would eventually jeopardize their work performance. It's in the rule book as rule 4 section 1."

Lavi turned around. The rule book was rather thick and small enough to fit in one's breast pocket. _Pocket-sized_, Jiji used to joke, _so you remember the rules follow you everywhere_. It explained every single rule there was to being a Bookman. And _only_ those from the Bookmen clan had access to one.

"What are you trying to say?" Lavi muttered.

"I was a Bookman!" The Akuma screeched.

He decreased the flames and the Akuma sighed in relief.

"Say again?" Lavi asked.

"I was a Bookman! Francis Johnson. Do you remember me?" The Akuma pleaded.

Lavi mentally scrolled through the various names that he had to memorise. It was on one of those lists that Bookman had given to him to memorise within a night, and Lavi vaguely remembered _Francis Johnson_ on one of the many lists.

"So what? You can't prove you're him." lavi said, standing his ground.

"A Bookman is only there to record, and not to make friends, that's what my old tutor used to say. He was a tiny old man with strange hair that-"

"-stuck up no matter how many clips you use to keep it down." Lavi finished.

Was Bookman this Akuma's previous tutor? Lavi was shocked at this revelation. Did Bookman know about 'Francis Johnson's' death and his change into an Akuma? He wondered if the Akuma was even telling the truth. Maybe he was trying to escape death. But the Akuma knew things that other people didn't. He knew about the Bookmen clan. He knew about his _troubles_.

"I also had a group of friends I really loved, like you. When I died, they resurrected me! They turned me into an Akuma and I killed them all." The Akuma hissed.

Lavi increased the flames.

"They wouldn't do that!" He shouted.

"Not if your friends loved you. Friends love each other. Simple fact of life."

Lavi scrunched up his brows. "If they loved you, they wouldn't turn you into an Akuma! They should know Akuma brings more death than just yours!"

The Akuma just laughed, oblivious to his anger. "I see now. You're worried the same would happen to you."

Lavi gritted his jaw.

"Or..." The Akuma smirked. "You're afraid they wouldn't care less if you died."

Lavi shouted and created another _Hi ban_ to torture the Akuma. It screeched louder and hissed in pain, begging for the flaming cage to release him.

"I understand how you feel! I really do! Please! You just want to live a normal life, don't you? A life without misery, without seeing wars and people dying every second! You just want to have a group of friends that love you, a family that understands you and a future that isn't based on killing others! I understand you!" The Akuma yelled.

Lavi hissed. That was exactly what he felt. Maybe the Akuma _did_ know what he was feeling. Maybe... he finally found someone that shared the same views as his. Someone who finally understood his pain. He lessened the fire.

"I felt the same way!" It tried to reason.

"How could you have?" Lavi hissed.

"Because I loved my friends too! But that old man wouldn't let me form relationships with them. Said it was too dangerous. At the end, they tried to save me and it didn't work - I was a Bookman and my death was recorded in the books. Just five lines to my name." It hissed.

Just five lines? Lavi didn't want to go down in history as the just five lines in a book he spent his life recording. He realised it was some sort of book of death that was passed on. The first few pages were written by people that were just like him. People who died centuries ago who witnessed and lived the same life as him. Lavi was sickened by his job.

"I can help you!" The Akuma pleaded, feeling the fire get softer.

"Really?" Lavi whispered, hesitant.

"Definitely." The Akuma nodded, desperate.

Lavi wasn't sure why he did it, but he removed the seal. The red circle slowly disappeared, the large FIRE character left as a faint mark on the burnt grass. The Akuma was hissing, the smell of rotting Akuma was strange. Lavi had never let an Akuma live before, so this was a new sensation. He still wasn't sure why he let this one live.

"So how can you help?" Lavi asked, whispering.

He felt like he was doing something completely sinful. Something that was out of the rules book and forbidden. For the first time since he met Bookman that night, he felt a surge of freedom. He was doing something _he_ wanted, not something the rule book dictated or the old man growled at him. He felt free.

"We can start by making a pact." The Akuma suggested.

"What pact?" Lavi asked.

"Well," and the Akuma slithered closer to him, a smirk on its face. Lavi watched cautiously as its snaky body touched his leg. "Let's say, I help you to get your freedom and you help me to get mine."

* * *

**A/N: Hope this didn't suck. It's my first Fan fic! What do you guys think? Needs improvement? Good enough? I would love feedback on how to improve or even just one worded comments. :) To all the Lavi fans out there! And here's to Hoshino Katsura finally updating!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

It was nearing midnight when Bookman finally let Lavi go to bed. Suppressing a yawn, Lavi trod towards the elevator, hearing the silence of the corridors.

"Lavi!" Allen shouted, causing him to turn around.

He smiled at his friend. "Hey, beansprout!"

"You got back already? Komui said you wouldn't be back for another two days." Allen asked.

"Yeah, finished the mission early so thought I'd get some rest."

Allen smiled and nodded. When the lift came, Allen stepped into it with him even though his room was on this floor.

"Is something wrong?" Lavi asked.

His friend blushed, the red bright against his white hair. He flailed his hands and shook his head. "No, no! O-of course not!"

Lavi was unconvinced. When they arrived at his floor, they stepped out together. "Really?"

"Yes." Allen nodded.

"Then why are you bright red?" Lavi teased.

Allen just blushed redder. "It was warm in that lift."

"From the heat in your face, yeah." Lavi laughed.

A tendril of red hair slipped from his headband and he flicked it away from his forehead with his hand. When he looked at Allen, he found the boy watching him.

"Sorry, it's just that . . ." Allen trailed off and knitted his brows together. "Did you always have a tattoo?"

Lavi furrowed his brows. "A tattoo?"

Allen nodded and pointed at his wrist. He realised that when he flicked his hair back, the short sleeves must have rolled up to expose his tattooed wrist. It was his turn to blush this time and look away in embarrassment. He hadn't meant for anyone to see it - especially Allen. It was the symbol of his pact with the Akuma, after all - their way of showing that they could both trust each other. At least for this, Lavi could. He knew the Akuma would only manipulate him.

"I've always had it," Lavi shrugged. "I just covered it up with my sleeves. See?" He rolled down his sleeves so Allen could see it was covered.

The white-haired teen didn't seem too convinced. Lavi tried to think of a new topic to discuss before he realised what it really was.

"So what were we talking about before? Oh yes, your little blush before." Lavi smirked.

It worked and Allen was back to blushing at a temperature of 50 degrees Celsius.

"I didn't!" Allen denied vehemently.

They reached Lavi's room and he unlocked it. Dumping his coat and boots by the door, he wore his slippers and offered Allen one from his cupboard. Allen thanked him and stepped into his room. It had three white walls and one forest-green one where the window was. He had the same furniture as Lenalee's as he had mentioned before. The window faced the sea and the city, which was like a sea of light. He loved the view and it was often the last thing he saw before he went to sleep.

Allen sat on his chair while Lavi sat cross-legged on his bed.

"If anything's wrong, you know you can tell me, right?" Lavi asked.

Allen nodded. Then sighed. He played with a loose thread on his waistcoat and picked it off after a few minutes. Lavi could feel the boy debating whether or not to talk. Finally, it seemed the 'yes' side of the debate won.

"I. . . What do you think about Lenalee?" Allen whispered.

Lavi was taken aback. "Lenalee? Uh, she's a great girl. Cute."

Allen nodded.

"Is something wrong with her?" Lavi prodded.

Allen shook his head. "Just . . . I think I-" He trailed off. Then with a great inhale, he rushed his words. "I think I like Lenalee."

The silence in the room was palpable. Distant sounds of ships honking in the sea interrupted it every few seconds. Lavi gaped at his blushing friend as he sat, playing with his thread again. Or it might have been a different thread. He didn't know. He was too focused on what Allen had just said to focus on what thread he was playing with.

"Say again?" Lavi asked, wanting to confirm.

"I- You know what I said!" Allen grumbled.

"Well, yes but I just wanted to hear it again. Just to make sure."

Allen shook his head, embarrassed.

Lavi tried to smile. He really did and when he did something of the sort with his facial muscles, he wondered if it looked more like a grimace than a smile. Because inadvertently, Lavi had fallen for Lenalee. It started out as something small - she was just that cute girl with long hair and purple eyes with a kind smile. Then it turned into the cute girl who was his friend. And then to someone who could possibly be his sister if he had one. And finally here, a person whom he could be as much of himself as he was allowed to be around. Somewhere along the years, Lavi had somehow fallen for his friend.

She wasn't even meant to be a friend - let alone someone he loved.

"What do you think?" Allen now asked.

"About what?" Lavi had drifted off into his thoughts before.

"Um, about me . . . and Lenalee. What do you think about us?" Allen asked hesitatingly.

Lavi braced a smile. "Great! You should do it! I don't see why she would turn you down."

Allen smiled. He said something or rather about confessing to her tomorrow, but Lavi wasn't listening - he was too caught up in his own thoughts. What if the one girl he wanted was taken away from him like that? He could hear Bookman's words in his head already. Bookman would probably say it was a good thing that Allen was with Lenalee - it meant that it would take Lavi's mind off one thing.

* * *

Kanda and Lavi sprinted around the corner of the building, whizzing past the snow covered trees and benches. They turned onto a new path and sprinted past some people who were huddled up in their woolly coats and scarves. Lavi was about to take over Kanda when his vision blurred. He attempted to shake it off, think of it as nothing but it soon made him feel dizzy. He crashed into a tree.

"What's wrong with you now?" Kanda muttered, glaring at his body sprawled in the snow.

Lavi grinned and tried to write it off as nothing. Moving his arms and legs, he pretended to be making a snow angel.

"Look, Yuu! Snow angel! I can make a snow Yuu, if you'd like!" He joked, all the while feeling the pain intensify.

"Che." Kanda replied.

"Go on ahead, I'll catch up with you later." Lavi suggested when Kanda didn't move.

The samurai didn't move. Lavi suspected Kanda knew something about the deal already but before he could confirm his suspicions, Kanda had sprinted away, leaving him suffocating in his snow angel.

* * *

"Why do I feel so weak?" Lavi hissed at the Akuma.

It shrugged its shoulders. Deciding it was best that they met as humans (though an Akuma was hardly human, Lavi thought), it now bore a young man's body. It looked about 20 years old, with a tall and narrow frame complete with a thick head of hair that reached to its waist.

"Possibly the side effects." It replied.

"What have you done to me?" Lavi asked.

He had been feeling dizzy for the past week and had been throwing up nearly every night. Deciding this just couldn't be because of a sudden illness, he blamed it on the Akuma. Why did he agree to a pact when he had barely heard enough of it?

"Why must you be so suspicious, Exorcist? We made a business deal - I won't go back from my word," it said, crossing its fingers over its 'heart'.

"You do realise that action is completely useless when it comes to you?" Lavi asked.

"Well, I'm currently a human, aren't I? To everyone else, I have a heart, just as you do or that woman over there." It nodded its head over at the woman sitting at the table next to theirs.

"It's _because_ you're an Akuma that I don't trust you. Tell me the terms of the contract _right now _or I'll kill you, I swear. I'll burn you and this time, I won't stop." Lavi threatened, leaning in closer to the Akuma.

It laughed. "Relax, Exorcist! I'm not a threat! Why can't you just have fun? I bet you haven't tried out the new powers I gave you. Or the extraordinary healing? Have you or one of your cute little friends been in any fights lately? I wouldn't mind being your dummy if you'd let me beat you up, Exorcist."

"You touch me and I'll incinerate you." Lavi hissed, getting up. "If I feel sick for another second, I'm going to hunt you down and give you a pain worse than death. I swear to you on my mother's grave."

"Whom you don't even remember, let alone where her grave is," it laughed, sipping its cup of coffee.

He glared at the Akuma, who just smirked back at him over his cup of coffee. Grabbing his coat off the back of his chair, he nodded briskly at the cute cashier when he left. Damn, something was really wrong with him, he realised when he was halfway back to the Order. The cashier and waitress were both cute and totally strike-worthy and he hadn't once responded to them.

* * *

Allen was over-the-moon. Anyone could see it in the way he grinned and just looked so star-struck whenever he looked over at his partner. Who looked similarly star-struck and over the moon. Lavi felt like retching. Or maybe that was still because of the pact. He couldn't quite tell which was affecting him more.

"It would help a lot more if you looked at the _work_ instead of each other," Kanda suggested sarcastically.

"Sorry," Allen muttered, completely unapologetic.

This time, Lavi could feel the bile rising up his throat. Without warning, he shot up from his seat and ran to the nearest bathroom. He stared as the remains of this morning's breakfast splattered all over the sink. He was about to sigh in annoyance when he heaved once more, bringing possibly last night's dinner into the mix. At this rate, he wondered if he had any food left in him.

"Lavi? Lavi! Are you alright?" Lenalee asked, banging on the bathroom door.

Lavi would have replied if he wasn't so busy retching. The nausea faded after a minute or two and he found his breath to reply to her.

"I'm fine! It's okay! I'm just doing a number two!" Lavi shouted, though his throat felt like it was on fire already.

"Sure?" She asked.

Lavi was touched that she would come to find him. Nearly convincing himself that she actually did like him more than just friends and hopefully more than Allen, he nearly opened the door to tell her what had happened that day.

But voices interrupted him.

"Lenalee, let's just go. We're late for the theatre." It was Allen, of course, her boyfriend.

So Lavi buried the thought of telling Lenalee because she would never understand what he was feeling like right now. Shouting another half-hearted reply at Lenalee's goodbye, he returned to dry-heaving for a good half hour.

Kanda was still at the table cutting out the squares for their project. When Lavi sat down with a quivering smile, Kanda sighed.

"Cut those out," he pointed at the pile on the far right with his scissors.

Lavi nodded. They worked in companionable silence. The good thing about Kanda was that he would never ask you what was on your mind either because of his disinterest or because he respected your personal space. Though Lavi guessed it was a mixture of both - Kanda was a very private person after all, so he could understand why people wanted to keep things to themselves.

He worked on cutting another blue square out of the template and imagined it was the sky on a clear, sunny day. One of those days when everything was so perfect, it was enough to make you believe you were too. For that single second, that was.

* * *

They were all standing by the river, watching Allen pass his suitcase to the Finder on the canoe. The Finder nodded when all his belongings were safely secured on the boat. Timcampy was flying above the Finder's head, waiting for Allen. With a smile, the teen turned back to his friends.

"Well, goodbye. I'll hopefully be back in a week." Allen said.

"Be careful! And don't worry too much about us - we'll survive." Lenalee said, smiling back at Allen.

He muttered something to her and they shared a kiss. Kanda merely 'che'd them but Lavi felt his heart twinge in pain, though he covered it up with a smile and a catcall. Allen blushed and hurriedly hugged Lavi, who patted his shoulder. Another few goodbyes and Allen finally went on his boat, facing his friends as the Finder rowed them towards the arch that led into darkness.

This was the common way of exiting the Order and was used primarily by Exorcists who were leaving for missions. Although not the quickest way to travel, it led directly from the Order to the town area. This meant that it was quicker to access the train that they often caught for the missions.

"Well, that's that. I have to go find my brother," Lenalee said, watching the little hole where Allen disappeared into.

"I'll help." Lavi volunteered.

Kanda said nothing. They all walked through the small door that led to this entrance. A turn here, a small bend there, and they were back in the Order.

"Are you still building the golems?" Lavi asked.

Lenalee nodded. "We need as many Exorcists as possible to test it out. Brother found a new way of creating the golem too. Something about using the Exorcist's blood so that the golem can always find where the Exorcist is, and so the Order can use it to track the Exorcist's progress." She explained.

"That sounds like a grand plan. Hey, Yuu are you going to help?" Lavi asked, turning back to face the grim-faced man.

Though Kanda wasn't there. Lavi guessed he went to do some training.

"So Allen said you gave him some advice." She said as they walked towards the Science Department.

Lavi grinned. "Yeah, I thought that if he wanted to survive Komui's wrath, he better learn some stuff from the master."

"The master?" She laughed.

"I've got a list of ex-es, Lenalee, all with scary dads who want to beat me up and possessive brothers who- Oh wait, I haven't been with anyone who had a possessive brother. I guess you'll have to do to fit my requirements," Lavi winked.

Lenalee punched his shoulder lightly, laughing softly. "Stop it, Lavi. I'm with Allen now."

Lavi ignored the pain in his heart. "Yeah, I know."

To be truthful, Allen's mission was a test of sorts for Lavi. He wanted to see how effective his pact with the Akuma was. He couldn't very well injure one of his friends just to see how well it worked out, but now that a mission finally took place, he was excited to see if the Akuma was indeed truthful. If it was, Lavi would have to keep his end of the bargain. If it wasn't . . . Heaven knows what Lavi would do to that creature. Or if something happened to Allen. He would just be another name in another record in yet another volume of the Bookmen encyclopedia.

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**A/N Sorry... I'm sure this contains many many mistakes but it's late right now and I'm half asleep by now. So hopefully it was good enough? Thanks for reading, guys, really appreciate it. As per usual, read and review please! Have a great day! :)**


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